• General

  • Sunday March 12th, 2017 @ 19:31

Preview: Saints Vs Finn Harps

St Patrick's Athletic host Finn Harps on Monday night in Richmond Park as the Dublin side look to get their first win of the 2017 SSE Airtricity league season (Kick-Off 7.45pm).

The Saints picked up their first point of the season last Friday when Michael Barker's second half goal secured a 1-1 draw for Liam Buckley's side against Sligo Rovers in the Showgrounds.

For former Bit O'Red defender Gavin Peers, the point against his former side was a positive from a game he admits the Saints could have easily won - the defender having an opportunity in the last minute of injury time just evading the top corner of the Sligo goal.

"We were unfortunate that I couldn't knick one at the end with the chance I had. When the ball came in from Alex O'Hanlon's corner I thought it was really good chance, but just unfortunately I got under it a bit too much and headed it just over," Peers told stpatsfc.com.

"The draw was probably a fair result at the end, but to be honest I don't really remember them having too many chances in the game. They scored the goal from the free, but other than that, I think we kept them quiet enough so that also says a lot."

In team news for Pat's, both Darren Dennehy and Aidan Keena remain out through suspension. Otherwise manager Liam Buckley has a full squad to select from.

"We did better on Friday against Sligo Rovers," Buckley admitted when speaking to stpatsfc.com. "We're still not quite where we'd want to be in relation to the level of performance but I couldn't fault the effort of the players so I was happy from that side of things."

"Looking ahead to Monday and Finn Harps, we know it'll be tough as Harps have shown they have a strong goal scoring threat in their games so far this season so we know we'll need to be fully concentrated if we're to get a result."

For Saints' defender Peers, the challenge of facing Finn Harps is one he is expecting to again be a tough examination of the Inchicore side.

"There's no easy games in the league. We can only worry about ourselves and look to improve game on game and raise our levels of performance.

It was good to get off the mark with the point in Sligo and hopefully that positive can be a good thing for us heading into the Harps game. They've impressed so far this season so it'll be another tight game."

Next Fixture

Drogheda United / March 29th @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Weavers Park
 
Team Pld Pts
Shelbourne616
Derry City611
Sligo Rovers69
Waterford FC68
Galway United FC67
Bohemian FC57
Shamrock Rovers56
St Patrick's Athletic66
Drogheda United54
Dundalk52

St Patrick's Athletic FC

Founded in 1929 the 'Saints' are the current FAI Cup holders and play in the Premier Division of the SSE Airtricity League at Richmond Park, in Inchicore Dublin 8, Ireland.

Contact Us

125 Emmet Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8, D08 E0Y7, Ireland

(+353) 1 454 6332
(+353) 1 454 6211